How cold before you don't work?

[digger242j]

Obviously, this question won't relly be pertainent to some of our members from the more tropical climates, but this week it sure seems pertainent to me--Do you have any sort of standard as to how cold is too cold to work?

Last night the low temp here was forecast to be 7 degrees, and the high was forecast to be 18. The actual temps recorded were a low of 12 and a high of 20.

For the snowplowing, and coincidentally snow shovelling, that I'm involved with, the contracts have language that reserve the right to pull off the job if wind chills are below zero, although I don't recall that ever having been done.

I once worked for an excavating contractor who had a rule that if it got below 10 overnight, and it wasn't forecast to be above 20, it was too cold to work that day. Today's forecast weather would've met that standard, although the actual conditions turned out to be better.

What I had to do today concerned a mudslide that was threatening to involve the driveway, and the underground electrical service, of a *big* (read: "awfully expensive"), house we worked on a couple years ago, and it was going to be done no matter what the temperature. Given my choice, and the forecast, I'd have probably found some inside work to do instead.

Do any of you have a "standard" for what's "too cold" to work?

 

[Steve Frazier]

I worked for a week straight when temps were in the teens, and did sidewalk snow removal at -12. I didn't like it, but it pays the bills.

My regular work gets shut down when there's frost in the ground and my materials freeze up. This year it happened the last week of November.

I personally can cope with temps down to about 20, but below that my extremities just won't stay warm, no matter what I do.

 

[motrack]

I spent my day outside bolting a radiator in Indots loader and installing a quick coupler on a excavator........... was -5 this morning and got to a high of 24

 

[cat320]

Well I look at it like this if it's that cold and you are forced to work outside I belive that the job done will not be the best because you will rush to try to do it faster to get it done quicker .Plus the fact that your hands ,face and anything else will be frozen solid is a motivator for me not to stay out long.

 

[Blademan]

Depends on what you are doing . As a finish grader operator , I spend most of my days building roads . Up here in Alberta , this is concidered seasonal work because once you can't add moisture to get compaction densities ( when water freezes ) , or the frost starts to get lower then a few inches , it's time to shut things down and wait for spring . Last season , 2003 , ended for us around the beginning of November . But ..... I've also worked piling up snow in a open cab D7 up in the northern part of the province in minus 55 degrees celsius . For the typical snow removal job , we never shut down for the cold . Just keep layering on the woolies .


Rob

 

[RonG]

I don't ever remember going home because it was "too cold".
It seems like there was always something to do whatever the weather,I should say temperature....I do go home sometimes if it rains...again,depends on what I am doing...I have spread topsoil in the rain if we are real busy.
I find that the building dept. of most towns dictate how cold it can be depending on what you are doing....you have to protect the soil from freezing if you are digging a footing and you hardly ever dig an house footing and pour it the same day so that means straw to spread at night or insulating blankets nowadays,still a PITA as far as I am concerned.
I remember the first year I worked for the company that owned that Case W20 I told you about....we plowed snow in the winter like many construction companies do...well..being an operator of course I got to run the loader.The job I plowed was a big shopping plaza...well,the loader had no heater that first year and I had to scrape the inside of the windows to see out!!!
I do remember going home one day when it was too windy to dump the dump trailer I was driving and it was a 23' Freuhauf,one of the shorter dump trailers.......some of those guys are 32' tubs and more even. Ron

 

[digger242j]

The contractor I referred to earlier was doing water and sewer line work, so beyond having to break through the frost to dig the trenches the cold didn't impact the actual work too much. They were thinking more about the laborers having to be outside in that temperature all day. If it was -5 to start but going to 24, like motrack mentioned, that would've been ok. The logic was that by lunchtime or so it would've gotten close to 20, and been that warm or warmer the rest of the day. It was those days that it was never going to get into the twenties at all that they'd stay home.

I loaded snow all night once in my 580 with an open ROPS. It was one of those single digit low temperature nights. Around 5 a.m. it got up to around 15, and I swear I could feel that it was warmer.

 

[PAYTON]

funny topic .
we currently have 15 scrappers sitting waiting on weather..
we took 3 weeks off for xmas and new years was suppose to go back jan 5th. lime was suppose to start jan 6th
but so far its been to warm to work.. it rained here for 4 days straigh and hasnt got cold enuff to freeze and stay frozen.. so were sittin at home praying for cold weather how ironic is that .. normally ur sittin at home waiting on warm weather..

so if it dont get cold soon i may have to find work.. ..

and its wrong time of year for that .. guess i can always bartend again.. or find a rich older women who wants to be my sugar momma.. lol

 

[motrack]

hey Payton.......you been working on the Indy airport project if I remember correctly. Seen a couple of machines playing there tuesday as I drove by.

 

[brushmaster90]

Ime in Arkansaw(southern USA) so it doesnt get that cold but sometimes it will snow a little every now and then)

But ive always looked at it this way.........If the diesel engines turn over in the morning were running that day no matter what.

 

[mitch504]

Obviously, this question won't relly be pertainent to some of our members from the more tropical climates, but this week it sure seems pertainent to me--Do you have any sort of standard as to how cold is too cold to work?

As one of the members from a sub-tropical region, who spent his early years in the tropics, My standard is: If it's below 50, I don't wanna!

However, I work in anything we get, low teens some every winter. In 1984 we had our record lowest temp ever, 4 degrees farenheit. I fought fire all night, even crawling through water. When I finished, it took 2 guys to pull my turnout gear off me.

 

[tctractors]

I work as a free lance Mechanic in the U.K., this last winter was a fair Dog for cold temps, as near all my work is outside, I give it a miss at about -17/18c as its to cold to realy function with any desire, you find it takes 2 hours to do something that should take a few moments.

 

[Greg]

For me it used to be 15 degrees F. Than it got to 20 degrees F. Now, I just pretty much shut it down in the winter. We have also been getting considerably more snow in the winter the last four years which adds to the degree of difficulity.

 

[willie59]

When grandpa says it's comfortable...too cold for me. :tong

 

[Colorado Digger]

cold temps

for us it doesn't much matter. sometimes -25f. it sure is not fun and our mechanic hates us during these cold snaps but if there is work that has to be done..ok! the productivity goes way down and everyone moans and groans but getting that paycheck and making payments is the bottom line.
regards, cd

 

[hvy 1ton]

CD i hope you've had that pic stockpiled for thread like this, otherwise it's time to move. :lmao 100 degrees today in Carbondale, KS. Wouldn't barely have to change your business cards.

 

[Colorado Digger]

kansas?

awe, come on heavy. but is there any work out there? and can i get $150 hr on my 210's?
cd

 

[vapor300]

were working in gradner kansas right now, have 3 million yards of dirt and a million yards of rock to move by next spring, also have another job goin up for bed in november and is 800000 yards

 

[hvy 1ton]

were working in gradner kansas right now, have 3 million yards of dirt and a million yards of rock to move by next spring, also have another job goin up for bed in november and is 800000 yards

Y'all are working on the BNSF intermodal yard then? Don't know about Carbondale, but Lawrence hasn't slowed down much. Probably not a good time to try to break-in though.

 

[vapor300]

yeah we were working there, got all the dirt moved in 6 months now there just placing rock and stockpiling rock to be crushed